Being part of a organization that is the first to build a nuclear facility in 30 years. Very interesting project with a lot of moving parts and able to learn quite a bit about a extremely political industry. Nuclear pay is probably the most , underneath the bankers of course.

Cons

There are so many rules and regulations that you have no room for creativity nor do you do any work. The work "Engineers" were doing was paper pushing and very very little engineering. The company is so large that you are merely a bug on the wall and can get by with very little if you like that. Not an industry for young leaders to progress . Full of the "good ole boy's" who all have man crushes on each other. QA is so stringent, if you fart in the wrong direction, there is a probability a stop work order will be issued because of it.

There are lots of projects in the Houston office. Most are long term projects with long calendars and require large project teams.

Cons

Just a good place to be until the industry opens up again. Quality and Teamwork, are more like posters to dress up the walls in conference rooms. The halls are full of politics and "good old boy" activities.

Advice to Management

Find out what real people out on the "floor" think. Just sitting around in meetings, listening to each other saying all the right things will not help move the company forward. Overall a little old school.

CBI pays well for the most part. If they didn't change the rules so often, it could rate a 4. If you are willing to relocate anywhere, anytime, you will be OK. Good camaraderie found at most sites. Corporate offices are more uptight.

Cons

Ridiculous bureaucracy. Good ole boy network is too big. Rules on per diem, transfer and incentive pay change often always favoring the company at the expense of the employee. Temporary jobs are reclassified as permanent in some cases at great financial detriment to employees. 30 year old patched up DOS based green screen software (JD Edwards) is the primary financial tool.

Great pay, being able to watch construction happen, made a few great friends, learned a lot, improved Microsoft Office skills

Cons

As an admin, too many cons to count! Long hours, ridiculously heavy workload, very little opportunity for advancement, being forced to do all the things that nobody else wanted to do, being seen as a nobody by pretty much all other groups, ridiculous demands from management and staff, working in an environment that feels more like high school than a professional workplace, too many chiefs and not enough Indians, good ole' boy management system, being micromanaged in every way possible, just because it makes people feel important to enforce rules that they make up as they go along, very little communication between groups, yet meetings up the wazoo which accomplish NOTHING other than social hour for management.

Advice to Management

Stop it with the good ole' boy system, stop holding people back, try being proactive instead of reactive for once in your lives, stop making up rules as you go along, stop making people walk on eggshells by feeling like their jobs are ALWAYS at risk, do some of your own work instead of filling your time with useless meetings and forcing your admins to pick up the slack, stop making ridiculous demands of your admins (especially where catering your last minute lunch meetings is concerned), and stop kissing corporate office butts every time they decide to make an appearance - they put their pants on the same way you do! Start communicating with your workers instead of micromanaging them, perhaps more work will get done that way.

Recent merger with Shaw Group has lead to a corporation with minimal knowledge of what many branches of the company actually do. Strict rules for advancement given as "guidance" to managers, but never put into writing.

Advice to Management

Allow managers to control merit process. The existing merit system ties managers hands when the good/experienced employees are offered higher paying positions.